Yes, I realize the book came out three months ago. So many people were writing and talking about it then though that I didn’t want to get lost in the shuffle when I can so much more effectively bore you when I have the floor to myself…. See that makes it sound like I had an actual reason to wait three months to finally do my review.

***HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS***

Ahhh, Harry, how I will miss you. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows marks the end of J.K. Rowling’s stupendous seven-volume series following young wizard Harry from the time he discovers at age eleven that he’s not a normal boy to age seventeen when he has to bring down the most powerfully evil wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort, or die trying.

Yes, to those who haven’t read the series (all four of you), I’m sure it sounds like seven books of teenage children playing with wands. However, although this is the backdrop of the series, it is absolutely not the point of the series. Saying you don’t want to read it on those grounds would be like saying you don’t want to talk to your friend because they moved to Wyoming and you don’t like oil wells.

Harry Potter is about learning to stand up for what is right regardless of cost, dealing with victory, dealing with death, the dangers and futility of appeasing evildoers (especially important!), how to decide which things are really important ~ in short, it’s about maturing.

Now, I know that many Christians have objected to this series on the basis that they think it promotes witchcraft. I don’t know anyone who has actually read the series who would agree with this. The magic presented in the book is clearly not any more real in our world than the magic done by highly paid illusionists on the Las Vegas strip. Pity though, because I would very much like to be able to use the “scourgefy” charm to clean my house.

Again, the wizarding world of Harry Potter is an allegory for our own. It just happens to involve wizards instead of talking lions. What are comparable between Harry’s world and our own are the characters. They are smart, brave, funny, opportunistic, cowardly, self-sacrificing, and all the other things that real people are.

Through the course of the series, much speculation has been made as to J.K. Rowling’s religious affiliation. After the series ended, she said that she hadn’t wanted to say before because it would have given to big of a clue as to how the series would end. It seems that she is a Christian herself!

Given the thematic undertones of the series up until Book 7, this should not be too surprising to Christians; however, Book 7 is extremely Christian in nature.

***Okay, spoilers ahead so don’t read past here if you haven’t read the book yet***

The first clue should have been the title of the book itself, “The Deathly Hallows.” Harry spends much of the book prowling around England looking for the soul-splitting horcruxes that Lord Voldemort has created to prevent his own death, and which must be destroyed before Voldemort can be killed.

Harry becomes aware of a set of three objects called the “Deathly Hallows,” which when all possessed by the same owner, allow the owner to conquer death. Hoping that this will keep Harry alive during his prophesied-before-hand final confrontation with Voldemort, Harry keeps an eye out for these items as well.

As the book progresses, Harry slowly loses everything important to him including his best friend and his wand. He visits his parents’ grave to discover a Bible verse on the tombstone, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” This chapter contains the first overtly Christian references in the entire series.

Thinking this sounds like a dark wizard’s idea (Voldemort had spent his whole life trying to outwit death), Harry initially reacts with horror. Clearly the Dursleys who raised him weren’t much for church. Hermione, however, explains to Harry what the verse means, and Harry ponders.

The final chapters of the book bring Harry to his goal. As he learns that he is Voldemort’s final horcrux, accidentally housing a sliver of Voldemort’s soul that was imparted when Voldemort tried to kill him sixteen years earlier, Harry realizes that he must die if Voldemort is to be stopped.

The remainder of the book is a wonderful allegory of Christ’s sacrifice for us and the life and protection that brings those who are saved in addition to being a satisfying end to an engrossing series.

As a final note, I do like the titling of the book, “The Deathly Hallows.” “Hallow” means “to make holy or sacred” (like hallowed ground) so the point of having all three Hallows isn’t to escape death but to sanctify it, which is precisely what Harry does by sacrificing himself for everyone else. Extremely Christian theme complete with moderately obscure Christian language so as not to make it too obvious. Very nice in its subtlety!

~~ WARNING! PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END SPOILERS AHEAD ~~

Yes, once again I have seen a movie that annoyed me
so much I am now compelled to write about it. It’s sad really. I really
enjoyed the first Pirates movie; and the second one, while not quite as
good as the first, was still a pretty enjoyable way to kill a couple of
hours. This new one, however, retained none of the charm or humor of
the first two films and instead slogs on for nearly three hours in a
fairly successful effort to eradicate the viewers of brain activity for
that discrete period of time.

Maybe while we were all zoning out through what the
filmmakers clearly thought were the more exciting points of the movie,
such as when they were sailing through the doldrums, the director was
really engaging in some form of subliminal messaging experiment. I was
mostly asleep during that part, so if the message was “You need a nap,”
then I guess the effort was successful.

Length and boredom aside, what bothered me the most
about this movie was its ridiculous anti-business stance. You must
understand, I am the wife of a small businessman, daughter of a small
businessman, daughter-in-law of a small businessman, and tend to come
up with entrepreneurial ideas myself about every three weeks (most of
these go nowhere but once in awhile something sticks such as what you
are reading right now). Anti-business sentiments tend to tick me off in
an almighty way!

Lord Beckett, the commander of the
Royal Navy spends the entire movie betraying people, welching on deals,
and backstabbing (I guess that’s three ways of saying the same thing,
isn’t it?) and then pronouncing that this behavior is “just good
business.” Then when justice finally catches up with him at the end and
the ship he thought was under his control turns around to blast his own
boat to slivers, for his epitaph he twice whines in bewilderment that
his behavior was “just good business,” bringing the total number of
times he utters of this vile phrase to four (I think four. I lost track
due to being bored and annoyed).

At that point, he glides down the
stairs as the ship explodes around him and he is engulfed in flames
(and shrapnel which inexplicably seems to miss him at every angle
instead of shredding him which it obviously should). Hello! Nice
imagery there. Why didn’t they just stamp “I am the embodiment of
satanic business” on his forehead to make sure no one missed it.
Considering that the the movie made a record-breaking $404 million
dollars in it’s opening six days, this stance seems absolutely absurd
to me. If business is the devil, what does that make the studios and
executives? High-ranking minions? Okay, that part seems plausible but
odd that they would admit it…. Hehe.

Anyway,
I was so annoyed after the show ended that I had to un-indoctrinate my
children in the car on the way home (and indoctrinate them properly
with what I think, of course). We started off with a discussion of
business and all the good things it does (no business = no grocery
stores, no food, no clothes, no toys, none of the things that we use
every day). Then we moved on to the larger problem with the Pirates
series of films, which is that it paints all the pirates as good guys
and the Royal Navy as the villains.

Yeah
sorry, but pillaging thugs aren’t really my idea of heroes, and the
English Navy did a large amount of good while they were out protecting
people from the thuggish pillagers. The problem with people operating
outside the rule of law is that they become lawless and begin to take
everything they can get with utter disregard to the ownership rights of
the people around them. They do not tend to become noble benefactors to
society.

These movies oddly present both
sides as being nearly equally matched in betrayal (the pirates nobly
call this a “code” though, to leave any man behind and steal one
another’s ships whenever it pleases them), while the same behavior in
the Navy is bad. Operating within the morality of the movie (skewed as
it is), this then seems to imply that the pirates have a higher
morality because they are honest about their buggery while the Navy
does the same thing but wields the power of the state to do so. So now
the pirates are freedom fighters? I don’t think so. They don’t seem to
be fighting for any larger purpose other than to be allowed to go
around thieving whenever they desire. Lofty aims indeed!

Anyway,
as entertaining as the series as a whole is, the entire philosophical
underpinnings of the movie are directly opposed to my own, and it was
an excellent opportunity to point this disparity out to our kiddos lest
they inadvertently pick up someone else’s mutant principles by osmosis.
You know, this whole molding of young minds thing is kind of fun!

Rachel

– WARNING: Spoilers ahead for the new film, 300; but since the movie contains only a scant plot, it shouldn’t detract from your enjoyment of the show. –

Handsome Hubbiness and I managed to escape again last Friday night for the second week in a row!! Imagine me doing the Elaine dance with the thumbs (from Seinfeld), and you will know what my happy dance looks like. Actually, it’s lamer than that.

Since I was inexplicably in the mood for something loud and subplot-free and Hubby never complains about those types of little movie quirks, we went to see 300. The film is based on the Battle of Thermopylae (pronounced like “Monopoly”; I looked it up) in 480 B.C. between 300 Spartans and a gazillion Persions (I’m pretty sure that’s the accurate number for the Persian hordes). In this case “based on” means that they have the 300 and gazillion numbers about right, but they add things to the bad guys cadre such as a giant with what seem to be huge lobster claws for arms and hulking elephants and rhinos that have been either dieting on steroids or were born in Middle Earth.

Wow, is that flick manly! I’m pretty sure they shot that movie on testosterone-soaked film stock. Practically every single frame has blood, guts, whacking, hoo-ah-ing, and other blood-drenched, war-related activities. The only exceptions are the three brief scenes with the naked women, and an almost interesting enough to make “subplot” status political problem back home (mainly this keeps the viewers from getting battle fatigue). Even the end credits have animated blood spattering everywhere! Made Braveheart look like A Walk to Remember.

If you typically like “guy” movies and aren’t terribly bothered by things like fictional beheadings, 300 is thrilling in that “Oh my gosh, OUR PLANE IS CRASHING” kind of way, and it is awe-inspiring to actually look at. The colors are washed out and high contrast-y, giving it a stark grittiness; and Gerard Butler who plays King Leonidas (the lead) is unbelievably strong and charismatic (I liked him back when he played Dracula in Dracula 2000. Please don’t tell anyone that I’ve actually watched that.).

Yes, in between the hacking are only about 50 spoken lines in this movie and half of them are silly, and yes there is a fair amount of random ridiculousness thrown in, and yes the women’s dresses are utterly impractical and the mens’ costumes equally deficient (however, if you like the Mr. Universe contest, you will find something to appreciate here). Despite all that, the battle scenes are fantastic, and the end left me practically giddy with patriotism (another thing I may or may not admit to upon future questioning).

This movie works because it is full of unapologetically strong men, men who rush out to protect the things they love regardless of personal cost, even if they know the cost is certain death. How can you not love that? What says “I love you” more strongly than decapitation? If your husband has been feeling a little put-upon lately or has a boss at work who makes him feel like a drone, help him find his hidden “hoo-ah” by taking him to this movie. You can close your eyes through it if you want; he won’t be watching you.

Rachel

Well, since we had four inches of snow yesterday and haven’t left the house since, I now have to recant my entire last week’s entry. Nice to have a bit of snow though. The kids are naturally delighted. Sounds like at the lower elevations the snow is a bit more sticky, but up here where we live it’s pretty dry and not terribly good snowman snow. Seems to work fine for tossing at each other though.

So did you guys all watch the premier of 24 this week? I mean really, aren’t at least 75% of the country Jack Bauer fans? Also, very nice to see Dr. Julian Bashir from Star Trek DS9 back in action again on 24 (yes, me nerd, I know…). Don’t know where he’s been hiding himself lately.

After Sunday’s ep., I’ve decided that old Jacky boy needs a new nickname. From now on, I’m just going to be referring to him as Jackula. In case you missed it, Jack kills his evil captor guard (there are always lots of those in this show) by biting his neck, presumably snacking on Le Jugular, and then spitting out the big bitten-off chunk onto the floor.

Sorry, but neck gnawing? Really?? Fine, cool if you’re say, the un-dead (I think that vampires should be called post-dead really because aren’t all of us people sashaying through life technically un-dead too? I mean, I don’t feel dead at least 83.267 percent of the time); but noshing on neck when you’re pre-dead? Ewwwwww! Especially without some French bread and a side of pickles. Blech!

Yeah, yeah, I know he wasn’t actually espousing the nutritional value of such a diet but more attempting to avoid that cheery little event we like to call “certain doom.” Maybe he should get some sort of administrative variance for being firmly in the soon-to-be-dead category. And since he just got sprung from a Chinese prison (where they apparently weren’t very hospitable) to come back to the U.S. and volunteer himself as a swap to the bad guys who want to kill him in exchange for the location of a presumed terrorist (the above mentioned Doctor Bashir, who naturally turns out to be a good guy after all), I guess he can kind of be categorized as mostly-dead for a wide variety of reasons. Why do I watch this show again?

You don’t think that spending half a day pondering which category of dead-ness a fictional character has to be in before chomping on someone’s throat is acceptable behavior could be a waste of time, do you? Naaaahh. Me either.

On the less gory side, American Idol started back up last night, and it seems to be just as full of entertainingly talentless people as ever. The first three weeks where they go around the country doing the auditions are just hysterical! Have a great week! Rachel

Rachel

So here’s what we really think!